Avtodor Saratov hands Zenit its first losss

Avtodor Saratov stopped previously undefeated Zenit St. Petersburg 81-88 on the road on Wednesday in Group E. The win lifted Avtodor to second place in their group with a 4-2 record, though Zenit, despite suffering its first loss of the season, remains atop the table at 5-1. The game was very close and after a 68-64 advantage for the home team early in the fourth quarter, the visitors used a 3-18 run to claim the victory. Jeremy Chappell was the main contributor for Saratov with 21 points and 7 rebounds, Paul Stoll had 17 with 5 assists and Travis Peterson chipped in 16, while Denys Lukashov dished 11 assists. Zab Dowdell and Kyle Landry bagged 18 points each for Zenit, Janis Timma scored 15 and Andrey Karpukhin netted 10 in defeat.

Peterson and Chappell hit back-to-back three-pointers that gave a 4-12 advantage to the visitors, but the hosts with Landry on fire and Timma hitting a long-distance jumper, went on a 14-2 run to get an 18-14 lead. Newcomer Stoll scored from mid-range for Avtodor to fix the first quarter score on 20-18. Karpukhin fueled Zenit for a 25-18 advantage. However a total of 16 unanswered points by the visitors – 6 of them by Chappell – gave them a 25-34 cushion. Timma and Dmitry Golovin kept the home team alive, while Artem Klimenko was the main weapon for guests to stay within 37-42. Artem Zabelin scored in the paint and gave the first double-digit margin to Avtodor, 37-47, before Zab Dowdell beat the halftime buzzer from mid range to finish the half at 39-47.

Dowdell hit from downtown and tied the game at 47-47 early in the third quarter. The visitors held on to a slim margin fueled by Alan Makiev and consecutive triples by Stoll, while Dowdell and Andrey Koscheev heated up for the home team. In the last minute of the third quarter, Klimenko and Zabelin scored to give a 58-63 cushion to Avtodor. Dowdell from mid rage made it 68-64 after three minutes, but the visitors exploded with a 3-18 run, highlighted by Peterson with 9 points and Chappell with 7 to lead 71-82. Dowdell hit from the three-point range to make it 81-85 with 22 seconds left, but Stoll from the foul line made sure his team escaped from St. Petersburg with the victory.

Head Coaches

KARASEV, VASILY

Zenit St Petersburg

"After 11 victories in a row and nearly qualifying for the next round, the most important thing was what is in the team’s minds. It was clear from the beginning of the game. We conceded 50 points in the first half. It’s hard to play when the opposing team shoots two-point throws with 75 % accuracy and three-pointer with a 60% in the first quarter. There was no defense at all. Later we turned it on, but the injury to Artem Vikhrov made it even harder. We lost our aggression, Dowdell was too tired. There were also a lot of mistakes and near panic in the heads of players."

VASILYEV, ALEXEY

Avtodor Saratov

"We were definitely prepared better than in the second game. We played especially well against both their shooters and non-shooters. My players followed the game plan pretty well, excluding the last minutes when Zenit was trying to catch up with three-point shots. We were good under the rim. Our young players did very well against Timma. We included many young players like Andrei Semenov and Tamerlan Bekiev today. I can only congratulate my team for the victory."

Players

LANDRY, KYLE

Zenit St Petersburg

"We lost because of our effort. They worked much harder than us. They fought for rebounds, they fought for loose balls. We walked into the game thinking we were going to win and they showed that we should’ve thought about the game. They worked much harder and they deserved to win."

PETERSON, TRAVIS

Avtodor Saratov

"Today we succeed in following our gameplan in scouting the players who shoot more. We tried to stop Timma and Dowdell. We didn’t let them shoot open shots and we did much better in following our game plan."